<code> The LDS Church is engaged in a California debate over same-sex marriages and will continue to be involved in moral issues, church President Gordon B. Hinckley told a general conference priesthood audience in the Tabernacle on Temple Square Saturday evening.<></code>
<code> The church is supporting the Knight Initiative, slated for a March 7 ballot in California, that would legally define marriage in that state as between one man and one woman. The church also supported 1998 ballot measures blocking same-sex marriages in Alaska and Hawaii.</code>
<code> "We deal with those legislative matters which are of a strictly moral nature, or which directly affect the welfare of the church," President Hinckley said. "We have opposed gambling and liquor and will continue to do so. We regard it as not only our right but our duty to oppose those forces which we feel undermine the moral fiber of society."</code>
<code> His sermon was the final message offered during the opening day of the LDS Church's 169th Semiannual General Conference.</code>
<code> President Hinckley's remarks anchored a sermon describing some of the church's activities and came in advance of a planned Sunday protest outside Temple Square by Utahns for Fairness, which organizers say is to send a message that the church's anti-gay efforts in places like Hawaii, Alaska and California are not appreciated.</code>
<code> The political efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are largely conducted in association with others whose interests are similar. "We have worked with Jewish groups, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants and those of no particular religious affiliation, in coalitions formed to advocate positions on vital moral issues," President Hinckley said.</code>
<code> "Such is currently the case in California, where Latter-day Saints are working as part of a coalition to safeguard traditional marriage from forces in our society which are attempting to redefine that sacred institution. God-sanctioned marriage between a man and a woman has been the basis of civilization for thousands of years. There is no justification to redefine what marriage is. Such is not our right, and those who try will find themselves answerable to God."</code>
<code> President Hinckley said the church is an ecclesiastical organization primarily concerned with worship of Jesus Christ, its great mission is to testify of Christ's living reality. He said the church should not be involved with anything not in harmony with this major objective, but "We should be involved with whatever is in harmony with this objective."</code>
<code> "We believe that defending this sacred institution by working to preserve traditional marriage lies clearly within our religious and constitutional prerogatives. Indeed, we are compelled by our doctrine to speak out."</code>
<code> President Hinckley said he wanted to make it clear that while the church opposes attempts to legalize same-sex marriages, the position "should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group. As I said from this pulpit one year ago, our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They are welcome in the church. It is expected, however, that they follow the same God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else, whether single or married."</code>
<code> Money being raised in California to support the Knight Initiative is being donated to the coalition by individual members of the church, he said.</code>
<code> President Hinckley also spoke of non-ecclesiastical dealings the church conducts. The church has spun off business interests born in the days when the Salt Lake Valley was isolated from competitive commerce and trade and the church was the only organization that could provide the capital needed to start businesses designed to serve people in what was then a remote area.</code>
<code> The church will continue to support its three colleges — Brigham Young University, BYU-Hawaii and Ricks College — though "We are not likely to build other university campuses," he said. "This is out of the question. They are so terribly expensive." The church retains real estate interests that, in Salt Lake City, help to preserve the beauty and vitality of the downtown area surrounding Temple Square. The church will also keep its communication businesses. "Our business is communication. We must speak with people across the world."</code>
<code> The Deseret News is owned by The Deseret Management Corp., a holding company for businesses affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We likewise own television and radio stations. These provide a voice in the communities which they serve."</code>
<code> It is a long-standing tradition during the church's two-day general conference for a church authority to thank the owners and operators of broadcast outlets for carrying sessions of the conference as a public service. President Hinckley noted broadcasts carried over the Internet as part of that tribute for the first time Saturday — the addition prompting him to reflect on changes computers and the Internet have brought to society. "It's interesting to think we've all reduced ourselves to 'dot coms,' " he quipped.</code>
<code> Internet broadcasts have been so popular among church audiences that the demand has outstripped each new Internet broadcast since KSL Radio first offered Internet broadcasts three years ago. (See related story on A8.)</code>
<code> Long the venue for general conference, the historic tabernacle on Temple Square was mentioned by speakers and church authorities offering prayers as the church conducts its last general conference sessions this weekend in the domed building while construction crews step up the pace to complete the new 21,000-seat Conference Center across the street in time for the church's 170th Annual General Conference in April 2000. Elder Andrew W. Peterson of the Quorums of the Seventy called the Tabernacle a "symbol throughout the world," and Elder Hugh W. Pinnock of the Quorums of the Seventy referred to the change in venues as closing "a vital era in thy kingdom" during an invocation Saturday afternoon.</code>
<code> Outside, clear skies and warm temperatures fueled the interest among church members to attend general conference in the Tabernacle one last time. There was a waiting list for tickets to attend sessions in both the Tabernacle and the overflow in the adjacent Assembly Hall. There could easily have been a waiting list for space on the lawns outside the Tabernacle.</code>
<code> Jon Fotheringham, from Alpine, said the LDS heritage in his family included stories from parents and grandparents about notable general conference events in the Tabernacle earlier in the century. "I came because it is the last time and I wanted to be able to tell my grandkids about attending conference in the old Tabernacle."</code>
<code> Behind him in the line of people waiting to enter the Tabernacle, Stewart Kelly said he made a rush trip from his home in Flagstaff for the same reason. "I just came up to see conference and see it in the Tabernacle for the last time."</code>
<code> Besides the Conference Center, ambitious temple building throughout the world should boost the church's inventory of operating temples to 68 by the end of the year. President Hinckley said he is optimistic "we will not only have the 100 (temples) which we have striven for, but even more beyond that" by the end of 2000.</code>
<code> "We plan to break ground later this month for the Nauvoo Temple," President Hinckley said, a rebuilding project he first publicly announced during the final general conference session in April.</code>
<code> "This building of so many temples has been and is a tremendous undertaking. You cannot believe what is involved in it unless you are closely associated with the process," President Hinckley said. "We shall not stop. We may not build at the same pace, but we shall go on for as long as the Lord wills that it be done."</code>
